Why the Society of Jesus , the Jesuits , so often attracts controversy
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Tis_Bearself
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If nobody in the USA ever questioned the prevailing attitude or pushed the limits of policy, how would we ever progress as a society?
While the bedrock teachings of the Church don’t change, the “best practices” for applying them have progressed a lot over the centuries. The Jesuits, with their tradition of being highly educated, help this process.
That’s not to say that some Jesuits haven’t from time to time gone in a wrong direction, handled something badly or gone off the rails, but that’s true of all priests and all religious orders. Their superiors and the Magisterium are supposed to reign them in and correct them when necessary. As an example, I worked with a Jesuit who was a longtime Congressman. The Vatican didn’t like that he was a congressman and that as a Dem he supported pro-abortion legislation even though he stated he personally was strongly opposed to abortion. The Pope finally told him to leave office and he did.
While the bedrock teachings of the Church don’t change, the “best practices” for applying them have progressed a lot over the centuries. The Jesuits, with their tradition of being highly educated, help this process.
That’s not to say that some Jesuits haven’t from time to time gone in a wrong direction, handled something badly or gone off the rails, but that’s true of all priests and all religious orders. Their superiors and the Magisterium are supposed to reign them in and correct them when necessary. As an example, I worked with a Jesuit who was a longtime Congressman. The Vatican didn’t like that he was a congressman and that as a Dem he supported pro-abortion legislation even though he stated he personally was strongly opposed to abortion. The Pope finally told him to leave office and he did.
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commenter
Guest
You minimize the damage that priest did to the Church’s social witness. EVERY body is personally opposed to abortion. But his position was identical to that of Planned Parenthood. He obeyed the secular culture.
His and others’ attachment to the secular establishment, and the Jesuits’ foot dragging on guiding him, and others, cost the Jesuits a lot of credibility and vocations.
Today the Jesuits in North America have one ordination for every 3 or 4 deaths. Yes, many individuals still do good work, but there was a massive failure at leadership level.
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semper_catholicus
Guest
Pacifism isn’t catholic principle.
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commenter
Guest
For years the Jesuits have managed their declining numbers by reducing their huge concentration in schools. In a nearby city their college and High school have gone from having a total of about 60 to today a total of FIVE Jesuits. They are now pulling out of some smaller cities altogether.
I predict there will always be Jesuits in NYC and Chicago, but in 5 years very few or none in between. I think they will avoid being scattered, or isolated. They will try to maintain a highly visible, critical mass in a few crucial urban centers.
I predict there will always be Jesuits in NYC and Chicago, but in 5 years very few or none in between. I think they will avoid being scattered, or isolated. They will try to maintain a highly visible, critical mass in a few crucial urban centers.
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tad
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My pastor told us yesterday in his homily that the intent of the Gospel is to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable.
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adamhovey1988
Guest
I’m about 6 ft tall, it would be hard for me to fit in a Box
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adamhovey1988
Guest
I kind of like the conspiracies about the Jesuits, so many of them are so easy to disprove. Especially some of the insanity that I have read in Chick tracts, because apparently the Jesuits have time machines, because they’re responsible for things that happened before their existence. I like the Jesuits though, Father Mitch Pacwa is a Jesuit.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
There are dozens of awesome Jesuit saints, such as the one celebrated in today’s feast day.
The Jesuits always seem to be doing exciting, interesting stuff.
The Jesuits always seem to be doing exciting, interesting stuff.
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Weserthy
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In their early history, the Jesuits were instrumental in effecting the reforms of the Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation efforts of the Church. This did not endear them to local populations, especially in areas with large Protestant populations that were hostile towards Catholicism. They also were a key force that assisted the spread of Catholicism to the Americas when the New World was colonized. They were renowned for their obedience to the Pope and their willingness to travel anywhere in the world, sometimes under drastic conditions, to assist the spread and defense of Catholicism.
In addition to these efforts, they also are renowned for their contributions to science and education. They founded numerous institutions of higher learning and had several members of their society make important contributions to a variety of scientific fields such as physics and astronomy.
The recent history of the Jesuits has sadly, been less impressive. Although today the Jesuits still perform various missions and operate charities on behalf of the Church, modern Jesuits are mostly known for their opposition or indifference to the more contested (by secular society) areas of Church doctrine (i.e., gay marriage, women’s ordination, abortion, contraception, etc.). They were also instrumental in the development of liberation theology, a movement that was criticized in several official Church documents under Pope John Paul II by the future Pope Benedict XVI. Their most well known English language publication, America, was placed under investigation by the Vatican in the mid-2000s due to their outspoken stances against the Church and Church doctrine, mainly for their support of homosexuality, abortion, and contraception. The lead editor for the magazine was forced to resign. Many of their colleges and universities are now no more Catholic than your local community college (e.g., Georgetown University).
Today the most well-known Jesuit, at least in the western world, is probably Fr. James Martin, who is primarily known for his tacit support of homosexuality (he is also less known as a supporter of women’s ordination). Many other Jesuits, including their current Superior General, Fr. Arturo Sosa, have made headlines in recent times for their puzzling and sometimes borderline heretical comments (Fr. Sosa, in a 2017 interview questioned the authority of the Church to interpret the Scriptures when discussing the Church’s prohibition on divorce and remarriage. He also strongly implied that the devil is only symbolic, in contradiction of Church teaching in an interview later that year.). Like many of the more liberal religious orders of the Church, vocations for the Jesuits have been in a steady decline since the 1950s, and will possibly cease to exist as an order within several decades if they cannot stem the tide.
In addition to these efforts, they also are renowned for their contributions to science and education. They founded numerous institutions of higher learning and had several members of their society make important contributions to a variety of scientific fields such as physics and astronomy.
The recent history of the Jesuits has sadly, been less impressive. Although today the Jesuits still perform various missions and operate charities on behalf of the Church, modern Jesuits are mostly known for their opposition or indifference to the more contested (by secular society) areas of Church doctrine (i.e., gay marriage, women’s ordination, abortion, contraception, etc.). They were also instrumental in the development of liberation theology, a movement that was criticized in several official Church documents under Pope John Paul II by the future Pope Benedict XVI. Their most well known English language publication, America, was placed under investigation by the Vatican in the mid-2000s due to their outspoken stances against the Church and Church doctrine, mainly for their support of homosexuality, abortion, and contraception. The lead editor for the magazine was forced to resign. Many of their colleges and universities are now no more Catholic than your local community college (e.g., Georgetown University).
Today the most well-known Jesuit, at least in the western world, is probably Fr. James Martin, who is primarily known for his tacit support of homosexuality (he is also less known as a supporter of women’s ordination). Many other Jesuits, including their current Superior General, Fr. Arturo Sosa, have made headlines in recent times for their puzzling and sometimes borderline heretical comments (Fr. Sosa, in a 2017 interview questioned the authority of the Church to interpret the Scriptures when discussing the Church’s prohibition on divorce and remarriage. He also strongly implied that the devil is only symbolic, in contradiction of Church teaching in an interview later that year.). Like many of the more liberal religious orders of the Church, vocations for the Jesuits have been in a steady decline since the 1950s, and will possibly cease to exist as an order within several decades if they cannot stem the tide.
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Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
More well-known than me ???
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Weserthy
Guest
Yes, technically Pope Francis is a Jesuit but he has had little to do with the order since the early 1990s when he was essentially blacklisted by their leadership. I don’t think most people, whether Catholic or not, identify him with the Jesuit order in any meaningful way. I would say that while Pope Francis is technically more visible as a clergyman by virtue of being the Pope, Fr. Martin and other Jesuits that appear in the mainstream media are more identifiable as Jesuits than Pope Francis.
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Pope Francis is very much a Jesuit .
https://cruxnow.com/cna/2017/06/27/understand-pope-francis-understand-jesuits/
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Ioannes_L
Guest
Alive, maybe.
I like to believe that St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier and other great canonized and non-canonized members of the Society are more known to people than him.
Weserthy:
Alive, maybe.
I like to believe that St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier and other great canonized and non-canonized members of the Society are more known to people than him.
Tis_Bearself
Patron
St Francis Xavier, pray for us on your feast day today!
I’m off to St. Francis Xavier’s shrine for a Mass…hope he helps me get there as there are about 15 detours that Google Maps hasn’t figured out are there yet.
Fun fact: This shrine was built in the 1700s by Jesuits in Maryland, who operated it till 1898. The man who’s maintaining it for the diocese now (as it’s in a very rural area) said a Jesuit from Georgetown was friends with one of the priests who said Mass there, and apparently this Jesuit from Georgetown was completely unaware of said shrine’s existence despite his order running it for about 200 years
I’m off to St. Francis Xavier’s shrine for a Mass…hope he helps me get there as there are about 15 detours that Google Maps hasn’t figured out are there yet.
Fun fact: This shrine was built in the 1700s by Jesuits in Maryland, who operated it till 1898. The man who’s maintaining it for the diocese now (as it’s in a very rural area) said a Jesuit from Georgetown was friends with one of the priests who said Mass there, and apparently this Jesuit from Georgetown was completely unaware of said shrine’s existence despite his order running it for about 200 years
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Ioannes_L
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Good video, a bit old since some of them have already been canonized, but good.
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